No Frills. It's a local grocery chain we have here and I went there for the first time last weekend. Everything is SO CHEAP. My main complaint with the grocery store we normally go to is that they are often out of things I like to buy, like ground chicken. I found everything I wanted and then some at No Frills. When we got to the checkout I told the cashier that this was my first time shopping there and that I felt like all these years shopping for groceries I've been getting totally screwed on prices. She laughed and said she felt the same way when she started working there. Granted, they are not kidding when they mean no frills...the stores themselves are very bare bones, no fancy displays or anything. It's a bit like grocery shopping in a warehouse, but frankly I don't really care about that. I don't want a 'shopping experience' when I go for groceries. I just want to get my stuff and get out. Their store brand of stuff is predominant, but they have the name brand stuff as well and also at awesome prices. ($3 for a pack of Maple Leaf brand bacon? SOLD!) Plus, a lot of their store-brand stuff is really good. (Honey dijon potato chips, anyone?)

You might want to check how they treat their employees. As I'm sure you've heard, some discount stores don't pay or treat their workers well, and for my part, I won't benefit at the working guy's expense. Around here, there's at least one grocery chain that's not unionized, and a few bucks saving for me isn't worth knowing (and I've heard tales) at what cost these savings come.

A union does not make a difference in this situation. Good management does.

In discount stores, the workers are paid minimum wage or close to it. A good many of these stores will also only hire part-time low-level workers so they don't have to pay benefits. The union will NOT help with this.

Having said that, if you have heard tales about that particular store it is a good idea to spend your money elsewhere.

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You are only young once. After that you have to think up some other excuse.

I had to come back to this thread to add another place to this list. I haven't been back "home" in years. Before I moved, I was a regular at one particular bar. I went there once or twice a week for years. Tonight, I met a couple friends there, as I'm back in town. I walked in and the bartender immediately went to the beer cooler and pulled out the right beer (well, after picking his jaw up off the floor, since it had been so long since I've been there), then proceeded to harass me about "two Killians and a Diet Coke", which had been my pretty standard bar tab for all those years. Funnily, it was also my tab tonight. . I suppose I'm a creature of habit. You just can't beat a bartender who can remember what you want after an absence of at least four years.

So you will totally understand my story: I had lived in Queens, NY and had moved 3000 miles away. Over 5 years passed before I made a trip back to NY. Went to Astoria to my favorite Greek place and the waiter tells me that it has been so long, why did I stay away so long? I explained about moving and he asked if I still wanted my usual? I asked him, what is my usual? He rattled off my order perfectly! And yes, I still compare every gyro with theirs.

No Frills. It's a local grocery chain we have here and I went there for the first time last weekend. Everything is SO CHEAP. My main complaint with the grocery store we normally go to is that they are often out of things I like to buy, like ground chicken. I found everything I wanted and then some at No Frills. When we got to the checkout I told the cashier that this was my first time shopping there and that I felt like all these years shopping for groceries I've been getting totally screwed on prices. She laughed and said she felt the same way when she started working there. Granted, they are not kidding when they mean no frills...the stores themselves are very bare bones, no fancy displays or anything. It's a bit like grocery shopping in a warehouse, but frankly I don't really care about that. I don't want a 'shopping experience' when I go for groceries. I just want to get my stuff and get out. Their store brand of stuff is predominant, but they have the name brand stuff as well and also at awesome prices. ($3 for a pack of Maple Leaf brand bacon? SOLD!) Plus, a lot of their store-brand stuff is really good. (Honey dijon potato chips, anyone?)

You might want to check how they treat their employees. As I'm sure you've heard, some discount stores don't pay or treat their workers well, and for my part, I won't benefit at the working guy's expense. Around here, there's at least one grocery chain that's not unionized, and a few bucks saving for me isn't worth knowing (and I've heard tales) at what cost these savings come.

A union does not make a difference in this situation. Good management does.

In discount stores, the workers are paid minimum wage or close to it. A good many of these stores will also only hire part-time low-level workers so they don't have to pay benefits. The union will NOT help with this.

Having said that, if you have heard tales about that particular store it is a good idea to spend your money elsewhere.

No Frills is a satellite of a Canadian chain called Superstore, which as far as I know does not have a reputation for treating their employees poorly. If I suspected employees were treated badly, I wouldn't shop there. None of the staff I saw when we were there looked unhappy, and the service was good.

Homer Laughlin China, who makes Fiestaware has excellent customer service. I have a covered casserole that I use all the time. Unfortunately, the last time I used it, I somehow broke the knob off the cover. I sent an email asking what type of glue could be used. Customer service did not recommend gluing it, so they sent a new cover (at no cost to me) instead.

Homer Laughlin China, who makes Fiestaware has excellent customer service. I have a covered casserole that I use all the time. Unfortunately, the last time I used it, I somehow broke the knob off the cover. I sent an email asking what type of glue could be used. Customer service did not recommend gluing it, so they sent a new cover (at no cost to me) instead.

That's good to know! I have Fiestware dishes and they are pretty much indestructable! i've never broken one in spite of dropping and banging them against stuff.

Couldn't believe it - I ordered the cards to come by "slow post" as they weren't time sensitive. They arrived within a week of me placing the order! Very happy and will definitely continue to recommend them to everyone.

I've mentioned before my favorite grocery store and its great prices, on the spot customer service and its incredibly well paid employees. Well this morning I swung by on my way to work only to see that it was closed for the day for renovations. However, at all the doors and parking lot entrances were employees sitting on chairs under shade tents with trays of cookies and a $5 gift certificate to their discount outlet store in town.

Their employees still got paid and were comfortable, I enjoyed a fabulous cookie from their bakery and a discount for my troubles.

I purchased, a few months ago, an earmuff-style headphones that A) cut down on outside sound, and B) had a built-in AM/FM radio. This works great for my workouts so I don't have to worry about getting caught in the wire that runs from ears to a phone or MP3 player, and it also works to tune out when loud or annoying noises are ongoing. I also use it at work when in the shop during loud procedures.

Anyway, one of the ear cushions (which make the sound seal around my ear and are very comfortable) popped off. I'd pop it back on. Inevitably it eventually popped off unnoticed and was lost forever. I tried to find new cushions online, but couldn't figure out which model went with my headset. I sent a polite inquiry to their customer service, and they said they would replace the cushion for free.

Today a package showed up with two cushions, slightly different from the originals; they click into place without glue and don't come lose at ALL. They are also slightly thicker and again very comfortable. The package was hand addressed and had a personalized handwritten note inside thanking me for my patronage. Very, very happy with their service and plan to leave good reviews everywhere!

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“A real desire to believe all the good you can of others and to make others as comfortable as you can will solve most of the problems.” CS Lewis

DH & I get delivery & take-out from there quite often, and they rarely goof. On one occasion, the delivery guy forgot our dessert, and went back to the store and got 2 for us. Another time, I don't remember what exactly went wrong (wrong toppings, delayed delivery maybe?), but we had a credit for a free pizza for next time on our account.

Last night, DH called in an order for me to pick up on my way home. What I didn't know was that he'd also ordered a dessert. Counter guy didn't mention it, the guy who handed me my pizza didn't mention it, and I didn't know to ask. So I get home, and DH asks about the tiramisu. So we call, and DH gets an apathetic counter guy who says we can come back to get either the tiramisu or our $5. Yea, not so much. So I call back, and ask for a manager. Explain to him what happened, including the apathetic guy on the phone. I was expecting him to dispatch some dessert with a delivery guy or something, but instead he reversed the entire pizza charge.

Yea, we're still ordering from there!

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What part of v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}} don't you understand? It's only rocket science!

"The problem with re-examining your brilliant ideas is that more often than not, you discover they are the intellectual equivalent of saying, 'Hold my beer and watch this!'" - Cindy Couture

My daughter had to go see her specialist in another city (thyroid issue) and in between there and home is a shopping mall which is much bigger than ours in town and so I made plans that after her appointment, we'd do some shopping for clothes for back to school. Daughter had been desperately wanting to start wearing make up (she's only 12), and of course no amount of mom saying "you don't need make up, your skin is beautiful" was convincing. So, I told her we'd go to a department store and look into make up there.

So we went to a Sephora in Penney's. The clerk took the time to do up her face with a foundation (which was exactly the right color, so she'll know what to get when she *does* start wearing make up) and then went on to tell my daughter that she's too pretty to need make up. So we left with an under-eye concealer (my daughter shares my tendency to dark circles under the eye), a cleanser, and a moisturizer with spf. *AND* my daughter is no longer begging for make up.

I'm not much of a make up wearer myself, but when my daughter is older and ready to wear make up, we are going to go there, and I am going to recommend the store to anyone who might be interested.

I also have to add, even though this year was my first time staying there, Nashville Downtown Hostel, for $30 a day for a shared dorm room with 3 other ladies, and this was during CMA Fest week, when hotel rooms downtown were going for $300 and UP, the hostel is a block from Broadway, clean, quiet, and the staff were very accommodating. Dsis stayed at the Vandy location 4 years ago and told me about it, so I booked it for this year's CMA Fest, and I was very impressed, will definitely go back, and tell others about it!

I'm not sure whether it's just my local one, but I have never had even a lukewarm experience there. The shop assistants are, without exception, helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable.

For example, my BFF loves bath stuff, but she has very sensitive skin, and will break out in hives if exposed to certain ingredients. I got a list from her, gave it to a shop assistant at Lush, and he was able to pick out several products (multiple bath bombs, shower gel and soap) that wouldn't irritate her skin. (And they didn't! )

I've also found that they are both very good at making recommendations, and very good at leaving you alone when you just want to browse and smell things for a while. (Both very important!)

They also have an online store, but I've never used it, so I can't speak for that.

It's not just your store! I've visited Lush shops in the Netherlands, the UK and New Zealand and the staff is awesome everywhere. In fact, I wanted to post about that chain, but you beat me to it. Lush staff is friendly, enthusiastic, helpful and knowledgeable and they want to make your shopping experience a good one. The products are great, they care about recycling and reducing waste, my skin loves what they make and their perfumes are just SO nice.Oh, and ordering on-line is hassle free as well. I thoroughly recommend it.

I have to say, as far as customer retention goes, my phone company knocked it out of the park for me today.

Back in February, I was told that if I had 6 months or less remaining on my contract, I could renew it and get a free new phone at no charge. So, I patiently waited til now, when I passed that 6-months-left mark, with an increasingly unhappy phone, so I could renew my contract and get a new phone.

Except that when I tried to do just that yesterday, I got told they only do that now if you have less than a month remaining, and that they no longer offer 3-year plans because people were taking advantage of the 6-months policy to get new phones then complaining that they were "stuck" in a 3-year plan (that THEY chose!). So basically what they were telling me was that because other people where whiny, I was getting screwed. I was very unhappy and emailed the company and told them so, as civilly as possible. I got a response saying I should contact the Loyalty department.

So today after work, I called, hoping against hope they'd be able to do SOMEthing for me. Here's what they did:

-The remainder of my contract will be waived at no charge to me and I will be permitted to renew and get a new phone via FlexTab (the cost of the phone is spread across the length of the contract, which means I will be able to get a much nicer phone than I was anticipating)

-My data plan is being upgraded from 1 gig to 6 gigs a month at no extra charge.

-I now have free long distance

-I am getting two addons (visual voicemail and call display) at no charge

-And the end result is that my entire upgraded plan will end up costing me about $10 a month LESS than I am paying now.

The only charge I will be responsible for is the $25 hardware upgrading fee. I can live with that given the lengths they went to to keep me as a customer, as well as knowing that to buy out the remainder of my current contract (which was what i was told was pretty much my only option yesterday) would have cost over $200.